Route by Cad225, guide written by happycamper

The route is based on lmfurb's guide and implements some optimizations that runners came up with time. These differences come down to:

• picking up less resources at the start of the game
• send the Illwrath to battle Traddash much later in the run
• convince the Traddash to fight Kohr-Ah
• optimally use the natural occurring portal to get to the Talking Pet faster

As the "any%" implies, we only do the most necessary objectives to complete the game. This means that you won't meet up with all Aliens and leave some 'loose strings'.

#Route Dialogue options are marked in bold, e.g. 1x3-2x2-1 means that you have to select the first dialogue option 3 times in a row, then 2 times the second, lastly the first option. You can skip through a dialogue by pressing the "Shift" button when the alien is speaking. Essential objects are marked in italics. Targets are written in the form of System Planet-Nr Moon-abc, e.g. Sol 3a = Sol, 3rd Planet, 1st Moon (Earth's Moon) The first section up to the natural occuring HyperSpace Portal is on a tight timer. Which means that you need to perform all flagship-navigating actions swiftly. Time doesn't pass while you're inside the game menu, planet menu, fights or dialogs.

QuasiSpace Map I'll be referencing the portals with this lettercode:

After you start a "New game" mash Shift or ESC to skip the intro. This way you'll likely enter the game in the menu, so make sure you exit via "Navigate" next. #Sol

1. Land on Pluto -> examine the Spathi Eluder -> convince Fwiffo to join your fleet 2-1x10-3 (or 2-1x16 or 1x20)
2. Land on Mercury, only radioactives are needed, but it seems faster to also get the base metal if convenient.
3. Fly to Earth's orbit -> meet the drone -> land on the Moon & pick up the Moon Base
4. Land on the Earth Starbase 1x5 -> talk to the Illwrath 1 -> fight the Illwrath -> Commander 1x2
5. "2 weeks later" -> 1-2 -> go to Shipyard: sell both ships -> go to Outfit Starship: remove the Storage & Ion-Bolt Gun; outfit full thrusters, +1 turning jet, +2 fuel tanks & max fuel (should be ~130)
6. Leave Sol

#First trip from Sol - get Portal Spawner 7. Land on Alpha Pavionis 7 -> pick up Ur-Quan Warp Pod 8. Fly into the natural occuring HyperSpace Portal aka "Unknown" 9. Land on the Arilou planet -> ally with Arilou 2-3-4-5 or 1x8-2 -> Portal Spawner received 10. Fly to Gamma Krueger 1 via portal J -> ally with Pkunk 1-2 -> 4 Furries & Clear Spindle received 11. Fly to Earth Starbase via portal K 12. Talk to Hayes 4 -> go to Shipyard & get one of these ship configurations (whatever fits your fighting style better): 4x Human Cruiser, 2x Arilou Skiff or 1x Pkunk Fury, 3x Human Cruiser, 1x Arilou Skiff (or whatever you can think of) -> go to Outfit Starship: outfit full turning jets, +1 fuel tank & max fuel (should be ~150-170)

#Second trip from Sol - alien quests 13. Land on Arcturus 1a via portal O -> pick up Burvixese HyperWave Broadcaster 14. Fly to Alpha Tauri via portal F (or J) -> use Burvixese HyperWave Broadcaster, make Illwrath fight Traddash 1-3 15. Land on Gamma Scorpii 1 via portal L -> pick up Deep Child Egg Case Fragment 16. Fly to Epsilon Scorpii 1 -> learn about Deep Children 5-5 -> flee combat 17. Fly to Betelgeuse 1 Syreen Starbase via portal M (or F) -> explain Mycon's involvment of Syra's death 1x15 -> receive Syreen Shuttle 18. Fly to Delta Vulpeculae -> meet with Orz to form an alliance 2-1-4 -> land on Delta Vulpeculae 2c -> pick up Taalo Shield 19. Fly to Zeta Persei 1 via portal E -> trade with Druuge for Rosy Sphere and fuel 2-1-2-1-2-4 (you get rid of Burvixese HyperWave Broadcaster and Deep Child Egg Case Fragment) 20. Land on Epsilon Camelopardalis 1a via portal I -> deliver the Syreen Shuttle to the Syreen Penetrators (yes, the Syreen ship is called Penetrator) 21. Fly to Betelgeuse 1 Syreen Starbase -> Syreen scheme a trap at Organon 2 22. Fly to Epsilon Scorpii 1 -> lure Mycon to Organon 5-1x3 23. Fly to Beta Brahe 1 -> fight 5 Mycon Podships ideally with Arilou Skiff -> land on planet and pick up Sun Device 24. Fly to Beta Orionis 1 via natural occurring portal (or C or M) -> 3 -> fight 10 Umgah Drones ideally with Human Cruisers -> 1-2 -> receive Talking Pet 25. Fly to Zeta Draconis via portal N -> land on Zeta Draconis 1 -> pick up Aqua Helix 26. Fly to Supox space via portal B -> meet with Supox to get the broken Ultron 2-1x3 -> fix the Ultron with Aqua Helix, Clear Spindle and Rosy Sphere in the menu 27. Fly to Utwig space -> meet with Utwig to give them the fixed Ultron 3 28. Fly to Zeta Haydes 6b -> fight 5x Druuge Maulers ideally with Human Cruisers -> land on planet and pick up Utwig Bomb 29. Fly to Procyon 2 via portal J -> use Sun Device to accelerate "The Process" -> end game plan with Chmmr 1x2-3

#Third trip from Sol - Sa-Matra 30. "another 2 weeks later at Earth's Starbase" 4 -> go to Outfit Starship: +1 fuel tank & max fuel (for safety +1 crew pod & crew it up) -> go to Shipyard: get 1-2 Utwig Jugger and 2-max Chmmr Avatar 31. Fly to Delta Crateris via portal D -> talk to Talking Pet to start distraction 3 -> fight 3x Ur-Quan Dreadnought and 3x Kohr-Ah Marauder ideally with Utwig Jugger -> fight Sa-Matra ideally with Chmmr Avatar (or with the Pkunk Fury if you still have one)

#Tips for advanced runners:

• The optimal route for each run is a bit dependent on ingame time -> e.g. depending on how many encounters you had with ships it might be possible to catch the natural portal sooner or later into the run (to go to the Talking Pet/Umgah).
• Normally it is faster to manually steer your flagship to the desired star system and not use autopilot. The only exception is going from Sol to Alpha Pavonis at the beginning of the run.
• Adjust the ship-angle towards your next target. E.g. before you exit Sol on your way to Alpha Pavonis you can point the tip of your flagship north because that is the direction you'll head.
• When leaving a planetary system to hyperspace certain directions are faster than others due to the position of the planet in the system & due to the zoom-steps of the game. If there are enemy ships in the game it adds another level of difficulty to figure out which direction is the safest and/or fastest.
• Mashing through autoscan on a planet is slower than if you dispatch the lander directly. Assuming you have memorized the landing point of interest.
• It takes less frames to enter a quasispace portal if your ship is aligned north.
• The velocity in horizontal direction is larger (4.8 SDU/s) than the velocity in vertical direction (4 SDU/s) -> This means that some horizontal routes are usually preferable. (SDU = Standard HyperSpace Distance Unit)